See my first post on this topic to get all the details. I just wanted to post an update on my method to get rid of the unwanted Japanese Beetle, and invasive species of insect that can ravage a plant.

My method to protect your plants is to use a bird feeder in the immediate area. For me, I put a bird feeder directly in my tree that was being attacked. In theory, this brings birds to the area, some of which are natural predators of the beetles, while the others may at least scare the beetles off. I tried this last year and it appeared to work, although I couldn't tell if it had just been a coincidence that the beetles had left. So this year, after noticing beetles munching on my tree's leaves, I decided to try the same method. I hung a bird feeder in the tree, and since then, I have not seen a single beetle. I think it's pretty safe to say that this method does work.

I know I see a lot of people using those beetle traps. Those might not necessarily be a good idea if you think about it. Those traps use a scent (or pheromone) to attract the beetles to the bag. Hopefully, the beetles will fall into the bag and become trapped but some will not. Now let's say that you put a beetle trap in your yard. You are probably attracting beetles to your yard that were not initially there. Maybe your neighbor's beetles are coming to check out the trap. If you caught ALL of them, it wouldn't be an issue, but there are those that you will not catch. So, you have effectively brought more beetles to your yard. A better idea would be to get your neighbor to use a beetle bag to attract your beetles to his yard. Finally, there is the cost of the beetle bags. They are outrageous for what you get.

Anyway, my preferred method of ridding myself of these nasty buggers is to get something else to eat them or scare them away. I don't want to attract more of them.